--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was four when I announced my ambition…" description: "\"I was four when I announced my ambition to write, eight when I began publishing such claims.\" — Taiye Selasi" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa0/taiye-selasi-17671_ambition_i-was-four-when-i-announced-my-ambition_1652237.png" --- # I was four when I announced my ambition to write, eight… ![“I was four when I announced my ambition to write, eight when I began publishing such claims.” quote by Taiye Selasi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa0/taiye-selasi-17671_ambition_i-was-four-when-i-announced-my-ambition_1652237.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa0/taiye-selasi-17671_ambition_i-was-four-when-i-announced-my-ambition_1652237.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa0/taiye-selasi-17671_ambition_i-was-four-when-i-announced-my-ambition_1652237.png) > “I was four when I announced my ambition to write, eight when I began publishing such claims.” [Taiye Selasi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiye-selasi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She recounts early confidence in writing, showing how ambition can emerge very young. **In simple terms:** Young ambition in writing. Key Takeaway Nurture early passions. Themes ambition writing youth Mood inspirational reflective Type personal motivational When to use this quote - school projects - blogging - early publications Key Concepts early achievement self‑belief Questions to Reflect On - When did you first feel a strong ambition? - How can early confidence be sustained? A Different Perspective None; early claims may be exaggerated. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Ambition Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition-write-665705/) [Announced Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/announced-ambition-665707/) [Began Publishing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/began-publishing-665704/) [Claims](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/claims/) [Eight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eight/) [Four](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/four/) [My ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/my-ambition/) [Publishing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/publishing/) [Publishing Claims](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/publishing-claims-665708/) [Write Began](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-began-665706/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [The whole thing is this: If you don't use just basic grammar, if you don't get the language down, you're not going to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-santiago-baca/the-whole-thing-is-this-if-you-don-t-use-just-basic-grammar-if-you/) [Jimmy Santiago Baca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-santiago-baca/) > [All my life I have been trying to learn, to read, to see and hear, and to write. At sixty-five I began my first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sandburg/all-my-life-i-have-been-trying-to-learn-to-read-to-see-and-hear-and/) [Carl Sandburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sandburg/) > [The fools who write articles about me think that one morning I suddenly decided to write and began to produce masterpieces. There is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwood-anderson/the-fools-who-write-articles-about-me-think-that-one-morning-i/) [Sherwood Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwood-anderson/) > [Willa Cather said that she write best when she stopped trying to write and began simply to remember.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-keyes/willa-cather-said-that-she-write-best-when-she-stopped-trying-to/) [Ralph Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-keyes/) > [A lot of people, I think, harbor some kind of ambition to write a novel - they say, 'One day I'm going to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-garland/a-lot-of-people-i-think-harbor-some-kind-of-ambition-to-write-a-novel/) [Alex Garland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-garland/) > [Generally speaking, it has been my ambition to write as a good old nurse will speak when she tells fairy tales.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-jacobs/generally-speaking-it-has-been-my-ambition-to-write-as-a-good-old/) [Joseph Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-jacobs/) > [“Her ambition to write stories was the most visible burden of her life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/her-ambition-to-write-stories-was-the-most-visible-burden-of-her-life/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [My mother carried on and supported us; her ambition had been to write poetry and songs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/my-mother-carried-on-and-supported-us-her-ambition-had-been-to-write/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [For a person whose sole burning ambition is to write - like myself - college is useless beyond the Sophomore year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-styron/for-a-person-whose-sole-burning-ambition-is-to-write-like-myself/) [William Styron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-styron/) > [My sole literary ambition is to write one good novel, then retire to my hut in the desert, assume the lotus position, compose my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/my-sole-literary-ambition-is-to-write-one-good-novel-then-retire-to/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [I have an ambition to write a great book, but that's really a competition with myself. I've noticed that a lot of young writers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/i-have-an-ambition-to-write-a-great-book-but-that-s-really-a/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“She had no ambition to write a good book, but was painfully anxious to write a book that the critics should say was good.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-trollope/she-had-no-ambition-to-write-a-good-book-but-was-painfully-anxious-to/) [Anthony Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-trollope/) > [When I was doing Shakespeare and I had spent a lot of time and effort in trying to become a great Shakespearean actress. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-mirren/when-i-was-doing-shakespeare-and-i-had-spent-a-lot-of-time-and-effort/) [Helen Mirren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-mirren/) > [My ambition when I was four years old was to be married.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priyanka-chopra/my-ambition-when-i-was-four-years-old-was-to-be-married/) [Priyanka Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priyanka-chopra/) > [My ambition is to one day shed my wardrobe and figure out how to look like Gilles Bensimon - or a famous stylist -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-finch/my-ambition-is-to-one-day-shed-my-wardrobe-and-figure-out-how-to-look/) [Charles Finch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-finch/) ## More by Taiye Selasi > [I wouldn't mind my book being called an African novel if it didn't invite lazy readings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiye-selasi/i-wouldn-t-mind-my-book-being-called-an-african-novel-if-it-didn-t/) [Taiye Selasi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiye-selasi/) > [“loss” is a notion. No more than a thought. Which one forms or one doesn’t. With words. Such that one cannot lose, nor ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiye-selasi/loss-is-a-notion-no-more-than-a-thought-which-one-forms-or-one-doesn/) [Taiye Selasi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiye-selasi/) > [“Then Ghana, and the smell of Ghana, a contradiction, a cracked clay pot: the smell of dryness, wetness, both, the damp of earth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiye-selasi/then-ghana-and-the-smell-of-ghana-a-contradiction-a-cracked-clay-pot/) [Taiye Selasi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiye-selasi/) > [ What distinguishes \[Afropolitans\] is a willingness to complicate Africa – namely, to engage with, critique, and celebrate the parts of Africa that mean most… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiye-selasi/what-distinguishes-afropolitans-is-a-willingness-to-complicate-africa/) [Taiye Selasi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiye-selasi/) > [“und dass es in Nordamerika kaum zweieiige Zwillinge gab (ganz anders beispielsweise in Nigeria, wo Zwillinge die Norm waren).�”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiye-selasi/und-dass-es-in-nordamerika-kaum-zweieiige-zwillinge-gab-ganz-anders/) [taiye selasi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiye-selasi/) > [Sight is subjective. We learned that in class.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiye-selasi/sight-is-subjective-we-learned-that-in-class/) [Taiye Selasi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiye-selasi/) > [“loss” is a notion. No more than a thought. Which one forms or one doesn’t. With words. Such that one cannot lose, nor ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiye-selasi/loss-is-a-notion-no-more-than-a-thought-which-one-forms-or-one-doesn-2/) [Taiye Selasi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiye-selasi/) > [When I'm working, I'm so narrowly focused on sound, language, rhythm, flow, that I rarely feel the emotion of the text. It's only after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiye-selasi/when-i-m-working-i-m-so-narrowly-focused-on-sound-language-rhythm/) [Taiye Selasi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiye-selasi/) > [The big ideas always come in flashes. I don't really craft stories that much. I genuinely don't know where these people come from, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiye-selasi/the-big-ideas-always-come-in-flashes-i-don-t-really-craft-stories/) [Taiye Selasi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiye-selasi/) > [“They were doers and thinkers and lovers and seekers and givers, but dreamers, most dangerously of all. They were dreamer-women. Very dangerous women. Who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiye-selasi/they-were-doers-and-thinkers-and-lovers-and-seekers-and-givers-but/) [Taiye Selasi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiye-selasi/) > [The summer I finished my first novel 'Ghana Must Go,' I drove across west Africa: from Accra to Lome to Cotonou to the deliciously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiye-selasi/the-summer-i-finished-my-first-novel-ghana-must-go-i-drove-across/) [Taiye Selasi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiye-selasi/) > [I read recently that the problem with stereotypes isn't that they are inaccurate, but that they're incomplete. And this captures perfectly what I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiye-selasi/i-read-recently-that-the-problem-with-stereotypes-isn-t-that-they-are/) [Taiye Selasi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiye-selasi/) > [I write essays to clear my mind. I write fiction to open my heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiye-selasi/i-write-essays-to-clear-my-mind-i-write-fiction-to-open-my-heart/) [Taiye Selasi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiye-selasi/) > [The thing that comes most frequently to me on yoga retreats is excruciating pain in my hips.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiye-selasi/the-thing-that-comes-most-frequently-to-me-on-yoga-retreats-is/) [Taiye Selasi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiye-selasi/) > [When writing screenplays, it's a matter of remembering to leave off the page anything and everything that doesn't appear on the screen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiye-selasi/when-writing-screenplays-it-s-a-matter-of-remembering-to-leave-off/) [Taiye Selasi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiye-selasi/) [Explore all 33 Taiye Selasi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiye-selasi/) ## More Ambition quotes > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [One needs more than ambition and talent to make a success of anything, really. There must be love and a vocation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessye-norman/one-needs-more-than-ambition-and-talent-to-make-a-success-of-anything/) [Jessye Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessye-norman/) > [I just think my own ambition would not allow me to sit on the gifts that my creator had given me. And so that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/i-just-think-my-own-ambition-would-not-allow-me-to-sit-on-the-gifts/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [A man's worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-s-worth-is-no-greater-than-the-worth-of-his-ambitions/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm hungry and ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julen-lopetegui/i-m-hungry-and-ambitious/) [Julen Lopetegui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julen-lopetegui/) > [“I was ambitious and desperate to direct my first film, so I capitulated and blew it. Never again. Never fucking again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-ferguson/i-was-ambitious-and-desperate-to-direct-my-first-film-so-i/) [Craig Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-ferguson/) > [I was always attracted most to joining City, and I am pleased to be at such a good club with such a big ambition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edin-dzeko/i-was-always-attracted-most-to-joining-city-and-i-am-pleased-to-be-at/) [Edin Dzeko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edin-dzeko/) > [Work towards your goal and dont watch the post size,its either they hate,or like you.there is no room for both sides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-buabeng/work-towards-your-goal-and-dont-watch-the-post-size-its-either-they/) [Isaac Buabeng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-buabeng/) > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I almost never have a plan for myself... I'm not ambitious in that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-plimpton/i-almost-never-have-a-plan-for-myself-i-m-not-ambitious-in-that-way/) [Martha Plimpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-plimpton/) > [I play for high stakes and given an audience - there is no act too daring or too noble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/i-play-for-high-stakes-and-given-an-audience-there-is-no-act-too/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [There's nothing worse than a leader who lacks ambition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-nothing-worse-than-a-leader-who-lacks-ambition/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If i can't even protect my captain's dream, then whatever ambition i have is nothing but talk..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoro/if-i-can-t-even-protect-my-captain-s-dream-then-whatever-ambition-i/) [Zoro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoro/) > [It may seem unattainable but if you put actions, your heart and your mind into it, you will prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/london-mond/it-may-seem-unattainable-but-if-you-put-actions-your-heart-and-your/) [London Mond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/london-mond/) > [Obligation is what's leading us to toward successful, and what keeps us moving towards the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wazim-shaw/obligation-is-what-s-leading-us-to-toward-successful-and-what-keeps/) [Wazim Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wazim-shaw/) [Browse all 4,601 Ambition quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I was four when I announced my ambition to write, eight when I began publishing such claims.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Taiye Selasi" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiye-selasi/i-was-four-when-i-announced-my-ambition-to-write-eight-when-i-began/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ambition" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiye-selasi/i-was-four-when-i-announced-my-ambition-to-write-eight-when-i-began/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa0/taiye-selasi-17671_ambition_i-was-four-when-i-announced-my-ambition_1652237.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa0/taiye-selasi-17671_ambition_i-was-four-when-i-announced-my-ambition_1652237.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa0/taiye-selasi-17671_ambition_i-was-four-when-i-announced-my-ambition_1652237.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I was four when I announced my ambition to write, eight when I began publishing such claims.” — Taiye Selasi", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Taiye Selasi", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiye-selasi/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I was four when I announced...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiye-selasi/i-was-four-when-i-announced-my-ambition-to-write-eight-when-i-began/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiye-selasi/i-was-four-when-i-announced-my-ambition-to-write-eight-when-i-began/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```